Before Rügen, divers have again brought so-called ghost nets out of the Baltic Sea. At the bottom of the Sassnitz harbor they found completely different things.
Sassnitz (dpa/mv) – Old nets, car tires and batteries have been salvaged from the Baltic Sea by divers off Rügen for the purpose of nature conservation. East of Rügen, almost half a ton of nets and power supplies were taken out of the water in a wreck, the Society for the Rescue of Dolphins (GRD) announced on Wednesday. These so-called ghost nets posed a great danger to marine animals, which could get caught in them and die.
As part of a volunteer diving team’s multi-day mission at the beginning of September, numerous car tyres, old networks and also starter batteries from vehicles were recovered from the Sassnitz harbor basin. According to the GRD, it has now been able to salvage almost nine tons of ghost nets from the Baltic Sea. Further actions are planned.
The environmental protection organization WWF is also active in the search for, salvage and disposal of ghost nets in the Baltic Sea and has salvaged tons of nets or network parts in recent years, also with the support of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.